South Dakota travels to North Dakota for a 7 p.m. tip-off Thursday night inside the Betty Englestad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, N.D.
The Game
South Dakota and North Dakota meet again as conference foes for the first time since 2011. The old North Central Conference (NCAA DII) rivals began the transition to NCAA Division I together. Both initially joined the Great West Conference before splitting ways, with the Coyotes going to the Summit League and the Fighting Hawks making their way to the Big Sky. Both programs went to the NCAA Tournament in 2014, then each won regular season titles in 2017 as the program's met in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament. This will be the third meeting between USD head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit and UND head coach Travis Brewster as the two teams also played in last year's nonconference, but the first game in Grand Forks.
The Coyotes
South Dakota (17-3, 5-1 Summit) compiled the program's best nonconference since the transition to NCAA Division I with a a pair of AP Top 25 victories. The Coyotes have received votes in the Associated Press poll for eight-straight weeks and the USA Today Coaches poll for seven of the last eight weeks. The Coyotes are led by a pair of 1,000-point scorers in junior guard
Ciara Duffy (15.2 ppg) and senior guard
Allison Arens (11.3 ppg). Duffy currently leads the Summit in league play with 18 points per game. With five assists on Sunday, Arens became the sixth Coyote in history to record 1,000 points and 300 assists in her career. South Dakota put five players in double figures for Sunday's win at Omaha, showing off a balanced offense that boasts seven different leading scorers this season.
The Fighting Hawks
Without Summit League teams to schedule for home nonconference games, North Dakota (8-12, 3-4) spent the first month of the season on the road touring the Northeast. The Fighting Hawks had two nonconference home games and entered conference play with a 5-8 record. North Dakota looks to snap a three-game skid in Summit play, following a stunning 69-57 loss to in-state rival North Dakota State, its first loss to the Bison since 2004, on Sunday in Fargo. UND senior Lexi Klabo is having quite the senior season, averaging 18.3 points and 8.3 rebounds to pace the Hawks. She leads the nation in free-throws made, while also leading the league in points, blocks and ranks second in rebounds.
The Series
The series between the old NCC foes dates back to 1976-77 with North Dakota leading the all-time series 49-26. The Fighting Hawks held the edge through the 1990s, but South Dakota has won four in a row since the two schools split between two different conferences. South Dakota rolled past the Fighting Hawks 78-55 in the 2017 WNIT behind a big game from
Allison Arens. The Coyotes were also victorious in the nonconference meeting last season, winning 76-71 in Vermillion.
One Last Thing
The Coyotes capitalized with 28 points off turnovers against the Mavericks last time out, the most in a single game since Dec. 9, although USD's had five-straight games with more than 20 points off turnovers. South Dakota's averaging 21 points off turnovers this season.
